Anyone ready?

The Hives are a Swedish band that is gonna blow Maroon 5 right off that stage!  :LOL:  they are a high energy punk rock band that is influenced by 70s american punk and probably owes a huge debt to Detroit's own Iggy Pop.

that would be why Maroon 5 is the HEADLINER and on the BILLBOARD charts #19 to be exact with their hit "MAKES ME WONDER"and THE HIVES..............are not

In general what's popular with the masses is what's comfortable, familiar and non-challenging.  Which is hardly the characteristics of fine art.  there's a lot of crap on the billboard charts, it's about SALES not QUALITY.  Not to mention that sometimes a really good band is ahead of the times and it takes the populace a long time to become accustomed to a new sound and something become popular long after a small group of core fans have latched on.  At one time people were pointing out to me that bands i listened to such as U2 and REM were unpopular and that i was not very "hip" to be a big fan of their music.  most people think i'm pretty snobbish when it comes  to music, but i think most people are just not very into music and like what's easy to listen to and wary of being challenged towards listening to new sounds.  Beethoven is much more popular today then in his time.  go figure.

Beethoven is the antidote for rap, of course. 

I agree about pop not necessarily being the best thing going.  I'm more of a roots music person, and I laugh when the rest of the world "discovers"  a writer or performer with years and years of credibility.  And, since I am being driven to distraction by the Iphone commercial, I think we benefit by looking beyond the top 50 downloads in any or all genres. 

Look up Jim Infantino ( Jim's Big Ego) sometime, or Leftover Salmon for examples. 

I know Leftover Salmon!  I think of them more as a "jam" band than roots music though.  They play a lot of jam shows with other bands my "deadhead" friends like such as String Cheese Incident, Mofro, Moe, Big G and Special Sauce etc. 

Most of Salmon came from the Left Hand String Band (if memory serves), and were well-versed in bluegrass. Some of their best jams were based on bluegrass and old timey (it's not as bad as it sounds) music.  The did a kick-butt version of Whiskey for Breakfast that was musically perfect and supported a manic mosh pit as well.   I probably still have the CD, remind me and I'll share.

String Cheese has a similar grounding in the old stuff, but I guess the Dead are considered old stuff now.  To "get" String Cheese without chemical help, you have to be versed in several kinds of music, they have had some great influences.  Ask me about their concert in Chico in '04 sometime.  KP might have been there, at least there were some kilts anyway.

And of course the Dead had a banjo player on board.  Jerry's musical goal was to be good enough to play with Bill Monroe.  Listen, you can hear the masses asking Bill WHO???


OK, here I am digressing down musical lane.  Ever hear of the Strawberry Music Festival in CA?  How many Dead shows, and which ones?

Ive only seen the Dead once, in 82 at West Palm Beach auditorium.  Or maybe it was '84. i forget.  it was a saturday night i remember that.  i think it was 82 that they played a sat.  most of my friends are deadheads but i'm into way too much music to be into one group that heavily. I love SCI and i stopped having "chemical help" long before i discovered them.   i've got about 28 or 30  shows by them on CD and have the Evolution DVD.  I regret not going with my friends to the New Year's Eve show at the Seminole reservation but i was afraid of the traffic (aptly so as many people never saw the show but were stuck in three days worth of traffic on alligator alley!)

crazy as it sounds i left a message on their forum that we want them to play our wedding and today their managment  company messaged me back asking the date.  OMG.  imagine if this happens, it would be CRAZY.  Perhaps with the wedding being at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they'd be into it.  I hope so, it would be the most awesome wedding present ever.  THE HIVES!  yikes.  i must be dreaming.

This is me, crossing my fingers so(Mel too?) that you get those Hives fellows to play at your wedding. 

thanks!  i appreciate it. it's funny but other people on their website are *****ing about maroon 5 too.  lol.  i guess not too many people are into both The Hives AND Maroon 5.